


In the dark of this place, there's the glow of your face

by coolest



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Coming of Age, Family, M/M, Planning Adventures, Sad Louis, Sleepovers, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Winter, but harry makes it better, harry makes him better, louis' confused about a lot of thing, way too fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-14 10:12:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4560657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolest/pseuds/coolest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They’re just teenagers, is the thing, but fuck- they could set the world on fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the dark of this place, there's the glow of your face

**Author's Note:**

> as always this was beta'd by me meaning that the grammar etc will suck ass sorry pls bear with me i love this a lot
> 
> this is most probably the shortest fic i've ever written and finished i could be lying since i do that a lot (sorry mom)
> 
> anyways, i love lou and haz and everyone they leave. please read this and comment
> 
> title taken from 'Ya Hey' by Vampire Weekend.  
> idea for fic was inspired by the entire Death Cab For A Cutie album i love it so much it'll never get old to me ever christ

New York City is a beautiful city to fall in love in. 

Harry Styles is a beautiful boy to fall in love with. 

Louis’ feeling a bit overwhelmed and his heart has been banging against his rib cage since Harry showed up at his house at eight at night with cheesecake and a bright yellow beanie on his head that made his eyes look vibrant in contrast to the snow outside. 

It’s twelve in the morning now and, like all the other times Harry’s come, they’re on the roof with their backs against the pillows they’ve brought up and mountains of blankets holding them down. 

“Y’know, coincidently, I once read that this album is one you play for someone when you want to spend the rest of your life with them.” 

Louis turns his gaze to the side of Harry’s face to find that his eyes are closed. There’s a little smirk on his face that would go unnoticed by anyone but Louis and he smiles, despite the heat bubbling in his chest. 

Transatlanticism on the album Transatlanticism by Death Cab for a Cutie is playing on the shitty radio Louis stole from the twins’ room. Louis’ never felt more wanted and the bravery in him that appeared when Harry pulled out a bottle of wine from his bag is the same bravery that makes him reach over to trace Harry’s jawline with his index finger. 

“Is that so?” he finds himself saying, voice breathy and soft. His skin is buzzing and he scoots closer to Harry when a cold breeze moves over them. 

Harry laces their fingers together and tells him “Yes,” with a firm nod before bursting into a fit of giggles. “Yeah, fuck, it is so.” 

(I need you so much closer/ I need you so much closer) 

It’s too late for this but so, so early as well and Louis’ skin is burning at the places where Harry’s touched him. The sky looks endless, is endless, and the moon is nowhere to be found in the black misty sky. There are never any stars to see in New York City, but Louis’ content with what he’s got now. New York City is beautiful enough. 

“I’d like that,” Louis tells him. Harry’s so fucking warm and solid beside him. Louis wants to roll on top of him and kiss him until their breathless. “Sounds like quite the adventure, doesn’t it?” 

Harry breathes in deeply and Louis moves his head to look at the side of Harry’s face. He’s disgustingly beautiful. Louis cannot believe this boy wants to spend the rest of his life with him. 

“A horrible adventure or an exciting one?” 

Louis smiles and Harry glances at him quickly. His lips are still curved in that pretty smile and they’re tinted red from the wine and the cold. “How about both?” 

Down the road, somebody lets out this loud belly laugh that seems to echo throughout the entire city. Harry’s chest heaves upwards again before he’s letting out a bark of laughter. Louis moves his hands quickly to cover his mouth. He jumps on top of him, legs on either side of his waist and leans down low enough so that his nose is brushing against the tip of Harry’s nose. 

“Shut up!” Louis whispers harshly but there’s a grin on his face and his eyes are wide. Harry’s still laughing into his hand, eyes narrow and cheeks pink. “My mom’s going to kill us if she finds us up here!” 

Harry continues to laugh and before Louis can process his next thought, Harry’s licking the palm of his hand. Louis pulls his hands back quickly and lets out a dry sob as he frantically wipes his wet hand on his t-shirt. He looks back at Harry and opens his mouth to say something but Harry’s always been quick with any type of movement that doesn’t involve his feet so he surges up so that he’s sitting on his bottom and slides his cold hands under the thick layers of clothing Louis’ wearing to grip at the hot skin around his waist. 

“Fucking hell H-“ 

Harry kisses him then. 

It takes Louis an estimated seven seconds to kiss back and close his eyes. He tangles his hands in Harry’s hair and when Harry whines at the back of his throat when Louis tugs on his hair, and moves one hand to grip the back of Louis’ neck while the other one moves to press against the drip of Louis’ back. He pulls Louis closer to his body and Louis parts his lips. Harry takes the opportunity to slide his tongue into Louis’ hot mouth. 

Jesus Christ, if you had told Louis two years ago that he’d be kissing Harry, the same boy who, at fourteen, broke his arm trying to get Lottie’s dumb cat out of a tree, he wouldn’t have believed you. But two years have gone by since Harry moved to New York City from Washington only to break his arm on the same day and Louis’ hopelessly infatuated with everything that is Harry Styles. 

The same laugh they heard a while ago is heard again but it’s louder and more jubilant than it was before. A cold breeze brushes past them again and Louis likes the idea of it being for him, for them- a sign that everything after this moment is going to be okay, that everything’s going to be fucking great. 

They pull away from each other slowly and once they’re eyes are open, they laugh. Louis’ index finger swipes across Harry’s bottom lip and Harry smiles bigger than Louis has ever seen him smile. He dips the same finger he swiped across his lips into the dents in his cheeks. 

Louis wonders whether or not he looks as tired as he feels. Harry drops his head onto Louis’ shoulder and Louis brushes the knots out of his hair with his hands before laying his head against Harry’s. 

New York City is a beautiful city to be young in. Especially when you’re sixteen-going-onto-seventeen and in love with a boy who makes the inevitable heartbreak that will hopefully not happen in the future sound like it would be worth it. 

Harry clears his throat. “Does this damn city ever just go to sleep?” he asks. He presses a chaste kiss to Louis’ bony shoulders and when he sighs, he breathes out happiness. Louis feels like the luckiest boy in the world. 

“I don’t think so.” Louis answers. His heart feels stuck in his throat and Harry’s playing with his free hand, pressing his thumb into the spaces between Louis’ knuckles. “The idea of this city never sleeping is sort of nice, don’t you think? Someone right now is probably falling in love or experiencing something they’ll remember as the best day of their lives and that’s sort of beautiful. You could argue against that as well because someone could also be getting killed or ra-“ 

“Like us.” Harry cuts him off abruptly. He laughs and lifts his head up to meet Louis’ gaze. “And I mean that in the sense of falling in love and remembering. This moment and you are so, so, so beautiful and I’m so excited to fall in love with you.” 

Louis isn’t sure what most things in his life mean. Which his mom says is okay, he’s only sixteen. But Harry seems like the most definite thing, idea, in his life right now and he knows a lot of things could go wrong but he also knows a lot of things could go right. 

And beneath him, Harry’s blazing brighter than all the skyscrapers around them put together. His touch is electrifying and Louis’ skin is burning. A snowflake falls on the glass roof they’re lying under and the leaves from outside this glass hut blow in through the open door. Louis touches his lips and they’re still tingling from when Harry had kissed him. 

What happens now? Louis isn’t sure if he should move even closer and let himself get burnt or move away only to freeze.

He moves closer. Harry’s beautiful and if wanting to kiss him until his lips bleed is a terrible mistake then it’ll be a terrible mistake Louis will never forget. 

“Okay.” Louis says, taking a deep breath in and exhaling with a laugh that shakes his entire body. Fuck. He’s only sixteen years old and here he is, imaging a future with this beautiful boy beneath him. Harry’s the type of boy with fire burning at every corner of his body and Louis’ the type of boy who doesn’t give a damn because he knows they’ll work it out, and once they’ve worked it out they’ll fall in love in the most beautiful, brightest way possible- like a supernova. He wants to poke Harry’s dimples all the time and complain about the extensive amount of hair on his head. He wants to admire the way Harry’s eyes change from green to sea green under the rays of the sun. He wants to kiss every part of his body. He wants Harry for the rest of his life. “Like us.” 

And when they kiss again, there’s no fireworks or sparks. Just roaming hands and hushed laughter into each other’s mouths whenever one of them says something that wouldn’t be as funny if they hadn’t finished that bottle of wine. 

Harry kisses his neck and Louis’ breath hitches. His lips feel raw and Harry’s lips feel swollen against his when they kiss again and again and again and again. 

Whatever happens after that are things Louis knows will become hazy memories at some point in his life, but what he knows he’ll remember forever is the feeling of Harry’s mouth sucking love bites all along his collarbones and the way he held Louis when they decided to go to sleep. 

Harry laces their fingers together and the last thing Louis thinks before he falls asleep is “oh my god,” 

(I need you so much closer/ so come on, come on)

 

*

Louis wakes up to the sound of rain falling pitilessly onto the roof he’s sleeping under. It bangs against the glass roof loudly, with force and fierce malignity. 

Winter in New York is as ruthless as it is beautiful. 

The winter wind howls loudly and Louis takes a sharp intake of breath. His chest heaves up as his lungs fill up with oxygen and when he breathes out the rain stops for a second before beginning again. It’s louder and faster and angrier than before. 

“Are you awake?” a voice murmurs softly against his hair, nimble fingers brushing through his knotty hair. 

No, he wants to say. The weight of exhaustion is heavy on his shoulders and he hasn’t had this good of a sleep in such a long time, even though it was awfully short. God, he’s so tired. It’s too cold and the thick blankets he had fallen asleep under are now pooling around his waist. It would be easier to ignore the obvious drop in temperature, in comparison to earlier this morning when he had fallen asleep, if he were wearing a shirt. But he isn’t wearing a shirt, unfortunately, and he finds himself moving closer into the warm embrace he’s engulfed in. 

Lately there’s been a nagging heaviness that’s settled in the spaces of his bones. It’s achy and leaves Louis feeling nostalgic for a feeling he’s never felt. It’s something he’s learnt to deal with- reckons it just comes from being sixteen and restless. Normally he can deal with it- can deal with just only being able to breathe. But, today is different. Today it doesn’t hurt as much. 

He breathes in when Harry breathes out, and his bones grow even heavier. The entire world is blurry when he manages to open his eyes and the room is too bright. So, logically, Louis closes his eyes again. 

However, just as he’s about to fall back to sleep, he feels a hand rest on his shoulder. The hand is too heavy and cold and if he had the energy to shake the weight off, he would. 

“Get up quickly, mom’s about to wake up and she’ll freak if she see’s you two up here.” 

Louis rolls over so that he’s lying on his back and reaches his hand up lazily to cup the cheek of the person kneeling next to him with their head above his. “Hmm,” he hums softly, lips twitching up into a half-arsed smile. “Okay.”

“Stop touching my fucking face and get up.” Charlotte demands. Louis snickers and releases a soft breathe of air from his lungs that feel like they’ve been sewed tight. “It smells like testosterone in here.” 

Louis opens one eye and looks up at her. “That’s Lot,” he says, smirking, “but if you’ve got any more fucking comments to say, I’d rather you shut up instead.” 

The gleam of the sun through the grey clouds is too harsh on his eyes that haven’t gotten used to the light yet. Charlotte rolls her eyes but leans down to give him a hug. His sister is twelve and fearless. Louis loves her like no other. She groans when Louis kisses her forehead and scampers back downstairs, into the house. Louis forces himself to stand up and shuffles towards the glass door on the floor that looks directly into the kitchen. Looking up at him with mischievous bright blue eyes and grins are Daisy and Phoebe 

If it weren’t for the image of his mother imprinted in his mind currently, Louis would’ve yelled so loudly at Phoebe for having the audacity to drink milk straight from the carton like nobody else but her is going to drink from that same carton. Instead of doing that, he flips her off. 

There’s no time to see her reaction because he’s looking down at Harry, who’s still fast asleep. Louis’ got to force himself not to stare for too long but it’s hard when Harry’s so fucking beautiful. It hurts all the way down to his bones. He kneels down beside Harry and cups one of his cheeks. “Harry,” he whispers softly in his ear, “we need to get up.” 

Harry whines and rolls over so that he’s sleeping with his back facing Louis. “No.” 

Louis laughs and lays his body flat on top of Harry’s, groaning a little at how uncomfortable he is since Harry’s lying on his side. “I know you’re awake,” he speaks up, watching the way Harry’s eyelashes flutter against his cheekbones with every shallow breath he takes. “Harry.” He whines, getting agitated when Harry shows no interest at getting up. “My mom’s going to kill us if she see’s us up here from the kitchen. She might even behead us.” 

“Because we drank the wine?” Harry’s voice is raspier than usual and slow. Louis brushes his lips against the tip of his nose and feels his chest constrict.

The corners of his lips twitch up at the same time Harry’s do. He nods his head even though Harry’s eyes aren’t open to see him. “Because we drank the wine.” He repeats, clarifying what Harry’s just said. 

“We’re still young.” Harry states as he rolls over so that he’s lying on his back. Louis almost snorts but decides against it. He just crawls back on to him and straddles his hips. Clearly the boy’s got no idea how insane his mother is. “She’s going to let us have this, trust me.” 

“Just like she’ll let us have the bullet that’ll shoot through our heads,” Louis says mockingly, “trust me.” 

Harry laughs at that. Since the blankets have moved down, his entire torso is out in the open and Louis’s fingers dance over the goose bumps that have formed over his skin. “Fuck.” 

Louis smiles and shakes his head. “Stand up,” he demands playfully, snapping his eyes up to look at Harry, who’s finally decided to open his eyes. They’re so damn green it’s terrifying. Louis places his hand over his heart and tells himself to breathe. “We’ve got to put the wine back,” he manages to force out as he picks himself up onto his feet and tries not to stumble back from a lack of balance. “And wash our glasses, put away these blankets and go back to sleep.” 

As he babbles on about his worries, Harry’s attention drifts to his half naked body and his eyes drink in every curve, every scar, every mark, every flaw and every wonder of this damaged body that Louis calls home. He’s quick to warp an arm around his waist. All he’s ever done since he turned fourteen was hide and hide and hide. But the way Harry looks back at him makes him not want to do that anymore, the way he shakes his head and tells him that he’s beautiful makes him not want to hide anymore. 

Louis blushes despite not meaning to- or wanting to- and drops his head to his sides. Harry’s gaze is too intense and Louis can’t look away from him as he gets up. He’s naked from the waist up and Louis’ eyes immediately land on the shaded heart tattoo on the inside of his bicep.

“Sleep sounds good.” Harry murmurs softly as they each pick up two blankets from the four they slept underneath. Louis takes the bottle of wine and Harry takes two of the glasses.   
When Louis looks up, Harry’s gazing at him and he can’t help the smile that forces itself on his lips. Is this what it’ll always be like between the two of them? To love and be loved by Harry Styles sounds like the greatest adventure he’ll ever make and he’s so excited. 

They tear their eyes off each other and descend down the wooden stairs that lead into kitchen. Louis puts the half empty bottle of wine where he found it while Harry washes the glasses they used to drink the wine. Closing the cupboard, Louis quickly runs past Harry, who steals a quick grab of his ass, and runs up the stairs leading to the roof to close the glass trapdoor and lock it. 

The minute he’s back down on the ground, he walks straight into Harrys chest. He wraps his arms around his waist and kisses his chest. “I’m so tired.” 

Harry laughs and the sound vibrates in Louis’ chest. He wraps his arms around Louis’ waist and smiles into his hair. “Let’s go to sleep then.” 

“What about the sun rise? I wanted to watch it.” 

“It’s winter Lou, the sun’s going to take its time. Plus, I was hoping that you’d live up to your promise of going back to sleep like you promised.” 

Louis hugs him tighter. “Will you be here when I wake up again?” The question is stupid. Both of them know the answer already- both of him know that he will be here when he wakes up the same way he’ll be again tomorrow and hopefully the day after that. 

“Yes,” Harry replies, “always.” He replies, nodding his head and biting onto his bottom lip. “Now, lead the way lover, some of us are dying for extra hours of sleep.” 

Louis laces their fingers together and pulls him down the hall and into his bedroom, which is at the end of the passage. They fall into bed ungracefully and tangle their feet underneath the Spiderman duvet covers Louis’ had since he was twelve years old.

This bed is too small for the two of them but once the tossing and turning stops; they’ll make it work. Harry breathes in when Louis breathes out and both of them are aware that the outcome of his crazy decision could be awful, terrible, but it could also be spectacular and worth whatever happens in the end.

To love and be loved by Harry Styles in a city as beautiful as New York sounds like one great story to tell.

**Author's Note:**

> comment and tell me if you enjoyed this xo
> 
> thank you for making it this far, don't be rude bc i'll get sad :(  
> anways, love you guys


End file.
